Specialist Perinatal Community Occupational Therapist
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate Occupational Therapist to apply for a 12-month fixed-term Band 7 Community Perinatal Occupational Therapist post in the boroughs of Hillingdon.
CNWL's Perinatal Mental Health Services provides support for pregnant & postnatal women experiencing mental health/emotional difficulties in the boroughs of Brent, Harrow, Kensington and Chelsea, Hillingdon, and Westminster, providing community and inpatient care.
An integrated model of care is provided between maternity, primary, and secondary care services. The clinicians are experienced specialists offering mental health assessment and treatment for women in the context of the community to support them to remain in their own home with their families, encouraging the formation of lasting positive bonds.
As the Occupational Therapist working within the team, you will offer a unique understanding of occupational performance, physical and mental health, mother/infant co-occupations, and child development in the context of maternal mental health. A range of individual and group interventions to enable women with perinatal mental health problems to overcome the barriers that prevent them from participating in self-care, productive, leisure, and mothering occupations will be offered.
Main duties of the job
This position is open to applicants who have significant experience in working in mental health, including a minimum of 1 year in a community mental health setting.
The applicant must have excellent clinical skills with a special interest in working in maternal mental health, providing assessment using tools drawn from the Model of Human Occupation and specialist perinatal interventions. We aim to improve occupational performance within the parenting role, which supports and promotes improved mental and physical health for mothers, babies, and their families.
There will be an expectation of supporting the team to meet targets while participating in service development tasks, as well as contributing to delivering generic assessments and supporting the role of duty. Thorough assessment of risk, the formulation of safe and effective risk management plans, and documentation with the ability to communicate these clearly and concisely is essential.
Experience of participating in formal child protection procedures and being involved in inter-agency work with families is desired.
Appropriate training, support, and regular supervision will be provided by MDT and the Occupational Therapy Lead.
Job responsibilities
* The services offered will be provided in line with the principles and ethos of recovery and social inclusion. The Band 7 Senior Occupational Therapist will contribute their specialist knowledge and expertise in supporting this approach and will ensure that all interventions amplify an individual's self-management skills.
* To manage a caseload of women in the perinatal period with complex, severe, and enduring mental health needs, providing interventions that support and promote improved mental and physical health for mothers, babies, and their families.
* To support the duty rota with the team.
* To work in conjunction with the Lead OTs in the service to support the development and evaluation of evidence-based OT within the perinatal service.
* To work in conjunction with senior staff in the MDT to support the development of services.
* Actively liaise with the MDT and external services such as primary care, maternity services, health visiting teams, adult and children's social care, perinatal community teams, and other mental health services.
* To carry out generic assessments and contribute to the duty rota within the team, providing specialist knowledge, care, and risk management.
* To provide occupational therapy clinical expertise while engaging and contributing to professional meetings such as CPA, multi-agency case reviews, birth planning, child protection meetings, and any other meetings related to the care and treatment of the women and their babies.
* To provide training and education to occupational therapists and other professionals with regard to how occupation may assist the recovery of service users.
* To be responsible for supervising and providing clinical support for junior staff while considering professional development opportunities.
* To act as an educator to students on practice placement.
* To contribute to the development and facilitation of Recovery & Wellbeing College courses within the perinatal setting.
* To contribute to Occupational Therapy research and development (R&D), audit activities, and projects within the perinatal service, implementing the Trust's Occupational Therapy R&D Strategy.
Person Specification
Experience
* Significant experience working in mental health, including in a community mental health setting.
* Recent experience of working with families and in safeguarding children practice, participating in formal child protection procedures and being involved in inter-agency work with families.
* Taking a lead on audit, research, and service development projects.
* Planning and delivering training in response to identified needs.
* Experience in using a range of standardised OT assessments.
* Experience of supervising students and junior staff.
* Experience in managing resources.
* Experience of effective partnership working, with external providers, in promoting socially inclusive opportunities for service users.
* Experience in completing Risk Assessment Tools.
* Experience in partnership working with external agencies.
* Experience of working with women in the perinatal period.
* Experience in leadership.
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
* Degree/Diploma in Occupational Therapy.
* HCPC registered Occupational Therapist.
* Practice Placement Educator's Course.
* Mental health specific workshops and short courses.
* Membership of OT professional body and/or special interest group.
* Postgraduate training specific to perinatal and infant mental health.
* Qualifications/training in specialist skills e.g., therapeutic/psychological interventions.
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES
* Broad/high-level understanding of Mental Health disorders and treatment models relevant to the perinatal period.
* Sound/detailed knowledge of legislation relevant to perinatal mental health.
* Knowledge and interest of local and national initiatives related to the area of expertise.
* Individual and group work assessment and intervention skills.
* Effective leadership skills through management of designated projects, audits, and research.
* Ability to deal with sensitivities and complexities, using interpersonal skills.
* Skills in producing timely, accurate, and informative reports and notes.
* Excellent communication skills i.e., written, verbal, listening and proficient use of up-to-date systems of communication i.e., IT systems, e-mail, fax, telephone, etc.
* Knowledge of personal recovery principles and their application to service delivery.
* Clear concept of Occupational Therapy and models of practice.
* Ability to work autonomously, on own initiative and under pressure to meet deadlines; & to make and action decisions independently within agreed time frames.
* Ability to prioritise workload.
* Ability to regularly identify and undertake appropriate learning and development opportunities as part of ongoing CPD.
* Ability to ensure the application of risk assessment and risk management strategies, ensuring the safety of the mother and infant.
* Ability to identify and effectively manage performance of self and others.
* Ability to maintain effective partnership working with resources both internal and external to the Trust.
* Ability to promote a culture of sound OT practice amongst staff.
* Ability to reflect and critically appraise own performance.
* Ability to determine the impact of mental and physical conditions on a service user's functional ability and undertake assessment/make recommendations with regards to the provision of equipment/aids and adaptations.
* Ability to recognise and articulate own values and principles, understanding how these may differ from those of others.
* Delivery of formal presentations and teaching sessions.
* Chairing senior meetings.
* R&D training.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
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